Fuel saver



J. J. REIDER Dec. 15, 1931.

FUEL SAVER 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Oct. 8, 1930 INVENTOR {elm J. Raider A T RNEY J. J. REIDER Dec."l5, 1931.

FUEL SAVER Filed Oct. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR John J. Pelder BY V A T RNEY Patented Dec. 15, 1931 PATENT OFFICE JOHN J. REIDER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FUEL sAvnn Application filed October 8, 1930. Serial No. 487,099.

This invention relates to devices for insuring substantially complete combustion of the fuel in coal furnaces, and relates particularly, to that type of such devices as are intended to supply oxygen in the form of air,

above the fuel bed.

It is well known that the oxygen of the air which is ordinarily supplied through the grate of a furnace, is rapidly converted by the hot fuel bed into combustible and noncombustible gases and that insufficient free oxygen reaches the top of the fuel bed to complete the combustion of the fuel and of the combustible gases generated therefrom. It

is further well known that if free oxygen is supplied to the combustion space above the fuel bed, the gasified and volatile portions of the fuel which are ordinarily wasted and pass unburned through said space, may be more completely burned, particularly, if the additional oxygen in the form of heated air is supplied close to the surface of the burning fuel.

My invention contemplates the provision of simple and efficient means for introducing 5 oxygen close to the upper surface of the burning fuel, which means may be easily and rapidly secured to the door of a furnace, and

which thereafter needs no attention. 7

My invention further contemplates the provision of means for directing air, supplied to the surface of the fuel bed, toward the various points of the surface so that uniform combustion of the fuel may take place throughout.

My invention further contemplates the provision of means for preventing burnt or unburnt gases and smoke from passing through the furnace door to points outside of the. furnace. r

The various objects of my invention will be clear from the description which follows, and from the drawings, in which, I

Fig. 1 is a top plan View, partly in section,

' of one form of my improved device, as it ap- '4 pears attached to a furnace door.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 isa front view of a furnace door showing, in dotted lines, my improved de-' vice attached thereto.

Fig. 4; is a fragmentary vertical section of a modified form of the means for securin the top of the casing to the remainder thereo Fig. 5 is a top plan view, partly in horizontal section, of a modified form of my improved device, as it appears in its operative position and offset to allow the door to be readily opened.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the same.

Fig. 7 is a top plan View of another modified form thereof.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section of another form of my improved device showing a different arrangement of the inlet constricting and air directing baflies, and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one end 65 thereof showing the baflies perforated. V

In that practical embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated by wayof example, my improved device consists of a holvlow casing as 10 provided with suitable flanges by means of which the casing may be attached to the upper door 11 of a coal or coke burning furnace 12. Such furnace doors are usually provided with a perforated back plate as 13 secured to the door as by means of the bolts 14 (Fig. 4) I In that form of my invention shown in Figs: 1 and 2, the casing 10 may be secured directly to the door or as illustrated in Figs.

4.- and 5, the casing may be secured to the back 30 1 plate, utilizing the bolts 14, orif desired, other bolts, for that purpose. After the back plate-13, however, is removed, the bolts 14 may be used to secure the flanges 15 of the casing directly to the door, suitable holes or 35 slots being provided in the flanges for that purpose. The holes or slots so provided may be brought into registry with the holes already provided in the door for said bolts, or

if desired, new holes may be drilled in the door. The casing 10 is provided with a. comparatively large inlet opening as 16 at-its front end. Said opening is made'sufliciently wide and high to communicate in part or in whole with the usual series of spaced openings or slots 17 in the furnace door.

A shutter or slide-18 of the usual type is carried by the door and serves to control the effective sizes of the slots 17, and is manipulatcd by the knob 19. To avoid interference with the operation of the shutter, I refer to extend the edge portions 20 of the anges 15 slightly forwardly of the remainder of.

the flanges, so that the major portion of the front faces of the flanges is spaced somewhat rearwardly of the shutter. A space 21 is thereby provided between the door and the flanges wherein the shutter 18 may slide. By sliding the shutter to open and close the door openings 17 to the desired extent, the amount of air admitted to the interior of the casing 10 may be accurately adjusted as may be found desirable to preheat the entering air to the required degree.

The bottom 22 of the casing 10 is preferably flat and horizontal or may be somewhat convexed for strength, and may be provided, if desired, with a suitable outlet opening as 23 preferably reinforced by the hub 24 thereabout. In the forms shown in Figs. 5 to 8, the opening 23 has been omitted. The side walls 25 ofthe casing, preferably integral with and upstanding from the peripheralportion of the bottom, are provided with a series of substantially upright, rectangular, spaced, outlet openings 26, whereby air entering the inlet opening 16 through the door slots 17, may be dischar ed from the casing in the proper manner to be distributed to all of the various parts of the fuel bed 42, after the air has been heated and expanded. In order that the air discharged from the casing maybe ejected in thevproper direction, I prefer to elongate each ofthe outlet open lugs 26 somew at, and to arrange said openings so that the walls thereof are disposed generally in a front to rear direction. Toward this end, the wall portion 27 on one side of the opening, preferably, the front side, is extended past the opposite or rear edge 28 of the opening, and overlaps the side wall portion of the casing which terminates in the rear edge 28 of said opening.

It will be seen that the inner surface of the portion 27 forms one wall of the opening, and the outer surface of the adjacent casing-portion forms the other and substantially parallel wall of the opening. Outlets 26 of any desired number and suitably spaced may be provided, and may be arranged at the proper points in the side wall 25 so that air is so distributed to the fuel bed 42, that the fuel bed, as well as the gases in the combustion space above the bed, will burn uniformly throughout. In order to aidin directing the air toward the outlets 26, and to aid further in preheating the air, a series ofchannels or vanes as 29 may be provided in the bottom 22 .of the casin The air entering the casing throu h t e inlet 16 has a tendency, before being eated by the casing, to move along the bottom, so that the channels or vanes aid materi ally in directing the air toward the outlets. Said channels are preferably integral with the bottom. They are open at the top and are formed by the walls 30 upstanding from the bottom 22.

The outlets 23 and 26 are so proportioned as to area, that thecombined areas of all the outlets are less than the effective area of the in let 16, after the inlet opening has been restricted in the manner pointed out hereinafter.

It will be seen that cold air entering through the opening 16 becomes heated by the heat conducted thereto through the casing 10 which in turn receives its heat from the fuel bed. The heated air expands and moves toward and out of the outlets 26,'mingles with the hot, unburned gases, supplying oxygen thereto at the proper temperatures and under the proper conditions to cause complete combustion of the otherwise wasted gases, Whereby a decided saving of fuel may be effected. The discharge of the heated air from the easing by expansion draws fresh air into the casing through the door slots 17, thereby supplying a constant stream of heated oxygen to the fuel bed, Where it is required. The cover 35' of the casing is preferably permanently secured to the walls 25 as by means of screws, bolts or rivets 32 passing into suitable lugs as 33 cast integrally with the casing, said bolts or rivets passing into the apertures 34 of the lugs and being headed, as over the nuts or Washers 31. If desired, the cover 35 may be suitably braced as by means of the rib 41, and the bottom may be similarly braced.

For preventing the discharge of gases or smoke through the door opening 17 such as may be caused by a back draft or the like, I prefer to provide a gate as 36, hinged at its upper end as by means of the pin extension 37 thereon, in the depression 38 in the top edge of the side wall. Said gate 36 is of suflicient length to extend near the bottom 22 of the casing. At the opening 16, I also provide a comparatively low wall 39 extending completely across the opening 16. In the event of a back draft occurring, the forward pressure of gases upon the gate 36 swings said gate about the pin 37 into the forwardly arranged dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, thereby closing the opening 16 and preventing the discharge of gases. Normally, however, the cold air entering the slot 17 may pass between the gate 36 and the wall 39 into the channels 29 and out through the various out-' lets. the gate 36 normally assuming a vertical position or a slightly rearwardly inclined position. A suitable stop as 40, projecting from the wall 25 or other part of the casing is provided, for limiting the extent that the gate may enlarge the effective size of the opening 16 and thereby limiting the maximum amount of air which may enter said opening, the gate 36 thereby partly constricting the opening 16 even when it is under maximumpressure of air entering the slots 17.

The casinglO is of sufficient length to introduce air throughout practically the entire surface of the fuel bed. The air emergingfrom the outlets 26 moves with considerable velocity, and thereby reaches many points of the bed 42 over which the casing is not ordinarily arranged. For that reason, the casing 10 may be made of considerably less length than the depth of the furnace as measured from front to rear. However, said casing is made as long as possible for the purpose mentioned, and may be made of a variety of different shapes as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 7. In any event, I prefer to make the casing of its greatest'width at a point nearer the door than to the rear of the furnace. Since, however, thecasing is fastened to the door 11, and since said door is frequently'opened about itspivot 43 with the casing attached thereto, the end of the casing must clear the opposite edge 44 of the door opening and is suitably arranged on the door for that purpose. In order to make the casing as long as possible, and at the same time, make it short enough to pass through the door opening, the greater part of said casing may be arranged nearer to the pivot 43 than to the edge 44 of the door opening, as illustrated in Fig. 1. In that case, the casing is made unsyrhmetricahbut it will be understood that any shape, symmetrical or not, or polygonal, circular or otherwise, may be used provided that the casing be of sufficient width and length.

As shown in Fig. 5, however, the casing may remain symmetrical/but that flange 50, nearer the pivot 43, may be made of less length than the flange 51, whereby the entire casing is disposed somewhatto one side of the furnace without, however, adversely affooting the efliciency thereof. As shown in Fig. 7, the casing may be made circular in plan and arranged at the center of the door but in that case, the casing is made somewhat shorter than in the other form.

Referring further to Figs. 5 and 6. I have there shown the casing 52 secured to the back plate 13 by the same bolts 14 which secure the back plate to the door 11. It therefore becomes unnecessary to drill any additional bolt holes in the furnace door. Suitable holes or slots may be provided inthe flanges 50 and 51 for thereception of the bolts 14. In the modification now being described, the casing 52 may be made of a single casting, thereby eliminating the necessity for the use of a separate cover 35 and attaching means 32. I also prefer to replace the gate 36 with baffles 53 and 54, the former depending from the top 55 of the casing and the latter upstanding from the bottom 22 of the. casing. Said baflles are spaced apart rearwardly a sufficient distance to permit the air entering the slots 17 to pass'the bafiies readily and to 'be deflected downwardly toward the channels 29. 1

As illustrated in Fig. 8, for the baffles 53 and 54 which extend across the opening 16, I may substitute a plurality of substantially vertically arranged baffles as 57 and 58. Said baflles 57 and 58 are comparatively narrow and are arranged in overlapping'relation in two parallel sets. The set of baflies 57 are inclined in one direction while the set of baffles 58 are arranged in substantially right angles to the set 57, but all of said baffles are spaced apart sufiiciently to provide a series of openings 59 to permit air entering the inlet opening 16 to passthrough the openings 59 and to enter the channels 29.

It will be seen that cold air entering the slots 17 under the draft caused by the. chimney, or by the draft caused by the expansion of the air in the casing and the discharge thereof through the outlets 26, is heated by the casing 10 or 52, as the case may be, and is discharged through the various'outlets 26 in a substantially constant stream under considerable velocity, and to reach all points of the fuel bed. It will further be seen that the velocity of the air caused by the draft is increased by the increased heating of the air due to the radiation of heat by the various baflies, gates, channelsand' walls, or due to the regulation of the slots 17, and that the air is adequately directed towards the various outlets and supplies the unburned gases above the fuel bed with suflicient oxygen to complete the combustion, thereby effecting appreciable economies in fuel consumption. It will further be seen that I have provided a simple device designed to be quickly and easily secured in place and having no movparticular embodiments of my invention, I

do not wish to be understood as intending to limit myself thereto but intend to claim the inventionas broadly as may be permitted by the state of the prior art and the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for supplying air to the surface of the fuel bed of a furnace, a casing having a top,,bottom, and sidewalls, the botsaid casing having an inlet opening at the front thereof, front apertured flanges for securing the casing toa furnace door, spaced overlapping portions on the side Walls forming side discharge openings therebetween for directing the air leaving the casing through the side openings and rearwardly, channels in the bottom of the casing for directing air tom having an air discharge opening therein, j

leaving the inlet opening toward the side openings, and means for constricting the inlet opening and for directing the entering air towards said channels.

2. In a device of the character described, a casing having side walls provided with substantially uprightspaced openings, the walls of said openings each consisting of a side wall portion arranged outwardly of the adjacent side wall portion and extending past the edge of said adjacent portion to form a rearwardlydirected passage between the inner surface of the extended portion and the outer surface of the adjacent portion.

3. In a device of the character described, a casing having an inlet opening at its front end, a substantially flat bottom on said casing having an outlet opening therein, side walls on said casing integral with and upstanding from the bottom, and provided with substantially upright spaced openings, the walls of each of said side openings consisting of a side wall portion integral with the remainder of the side wall and arranged outwardly of the adjacent side wall portion and extending past the edge of said adjacent portion, means in the casing for constricting the inlet opening, and flanges on the casing adjacent to and about the inlet opening.

4. In a device of the character described, a hollow casing having an apertured bottom, side walls having apertures therein and a top, and having'an inlet opening at one end thereof, part of the side wall about one side of a side aperture being extended to overlap the outer surface of the side Wall of the easing at the other side of the aperture, and

/ being spaced outwardlv'therefrom to form a passage therebetween, attaching flanges on the casing at the inlet end thereof and meansin the casing for directing the air entering the inlet opening toward the aperture in the side walls.

5. In a device of the character described,

a hollow casing having an inlet opening at one end thereof and having spaced outlet openings at the sides thereof, each of'said outlet openings comprising an outer wall formed by an extension of the side of the casing. rearwardly past the rear edge of the aperture and in spaced relation to the adjacent part of the side of the casing forming the other edge of the aperture, and means for directing air entering the inlet opening toward the outlet openings, comprising channels integral with the bottom of the casing and arranged between the inlet opening and the outlet openings.

6. In a device of the character described, a hollow casing having a top, a bottom and side Walls joining the top and bottom and provided with spaced outlet openings, the walls of said outlet openings each consisting of a side wall portion arranged outwardly of the adjacent side wall portion and exg JOHN J. REIDER. 

